Week in Microsoft: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 9

This week in Microsoft, we covered 128-bit support possibly coming to Windows …

Let's look back at the week that was in Microsoft news. Here were the top stories:

Microsoft mulling 128-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 9: According to a supposed Microsoft Research employee's LinkedIn profile, Microsoft is working on 128-bit architecture compatibility with the Windows 8 and Windows 9 kernels. Consequently, the company is also forming relationships with major partners, including Intel, AMD, HP, and IBM.

Windows Mobile 6.5 arrives with new marketplace, cloud sync: Windows Mobile 6.5, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and Microsoft My Phone have all officially launched today. It's an important release for Microsoft and its smartphone strategy, setting the stage for next year's launch of Windows Mobile 7.0.

Microsoft announces ad-supported Office Starter 2010: Microsoft has announced Office Starter 2010, reduced-functionality and ad-supported version that includes only Word and Excel. It is meant as a replacement for Microsoft Works and will only be available on new PCs sold by OEMs.

EU, Microsoft agree on browser ballot, testing to start soon: Microsoft and the European Commission have come to an agreement on a browser ballot that current and future Windows users will use to select a default browser for their PCs. Unless there's a huge uproar over the latest proposal, the EU's investigation into Microsoft's allegedly-anticompetitive browser bundling should soon draw to a close.